Ottoman Repair Documents
Excerpts Discussion about Ottoman Repair Documents from Ambraseys and Karcz (1992)Evidence for the repair of the damage caused by the earthquake to various buildings can be found in Ottoman archival sources. Some of those refer to repairs of public buildings, chiefly Christian places of worship in Jerusalem. Although at first the attitude of the local authorities was negative, some repairs were eventually allowed, and gradually more substantial construction work was permitted.
Thus, following a petition dated June 1548 made by the Franciscans of Mt Zion in Jerusalem, permission was granted first to restore several rooms and the damaged northern and eastern halls, and four months later to repair six small rooms in the southern part of the monastery (Cohen, 1982).
The archives of the Custodia Terra Sancta in Jerusalem contain numerous contemporary Ottoman documents granting permission for the repair or strengthening of churches and convent property across the land (Castellani, 1922; Hussein et al., 1986). However, it is not possible to say whether the damage that required repair was due to the 1546 earthquake or to the war and natural ageing of these structures. These documents refer, for example, to repairs of the walls of the convent in al-Ramla, of the church in Nazareth, on Mount Zion, restoration of the cupolas and chapels of the Holy Sepulchre, repairs of the terraces and cupola of the church in Bethlehem. The decision to abandon a convent in Nazareth in 1548 (Cirelli 1918), may also have been the result of the 1546 earthquake.
The repair of buildings damaged by the earthquake apparently continued for almost a decade. An order detailing repairwork, issued in Istanbul and addressed to the finance officer (defterdar) of Arabistan, dated 17 Rabi-II 959 (12 April 1552), says. . . the tombs of Abraham the Friend (al-Khalil), Isaac and Jacob (at Hebron) are situated in a mosque which has fallen down in part and has become a ruin. Also the mosque that houses the tomb of the Prophet Moses (Nabi Musa) is in need of repair. And some parts of the wall which is situated on the east side of the Dome of the Rock have been destroyed by earthquakes so that a man can pass through; twice the mosque’s lead has been stolen . . . The repair of all these buildings is necessary and urgent. . . (Heyd, 1960).Since this order was issued almost six years after the earthquake, it may be only a supposition that it refers to damage caused by the 1546 earthquake and not perhaps by later shocks. However, this is unlikely, since delays in the Porte's response to requests for repairs of this nature were long. Moreover this order refers to the repair of structures that we know from other sources that they had been damaged by the 1546 earthquake and no other shocks during the period 1547-1552 have as yet been identified (see Appendix).
Archaeological evidence and contemporary documents presented by Burgoyne (1987) also give further indication of the damage to some of the Muslim buildings in Jerusalem, such as the Ribat of 'Ala'al-Din and Qayitbey's madrasa (the Ashrafiyya). There is also evidence of damage to the Aminiyya madrasa and the minaret of the Fakhriyya.Seismic Effects
- Damage to Franciscan structures on Mount Zion [Jerusalem]
- Damage to Ribat of 'Ala'al-Din [Jerusalem]
- Damage to Qayitbey's madrasa (the Ashrafiyya) [Jerusalem]
- Damage to Aminiyya madrasa [Jerusalem]
- Damage to the minaret of the Fakhriyya [Jerusalem]
- Damage to the the cupolas and chapels of the Holy Sepulchre [Jerusalem]
- Damage to the tombs of Abraham the Friend (al-Khalil), Isaac and Jacob (at Hebron) situated in a mosque
- Damage to a mosque that houses the tomb of the Prophet Moses (Nabi Musa)
- Possible damage to the terraces and cupola of the church in Bethlehem
- Possible damage to the walls of the convent in al-Ramla
- Possible damage to the church in Nazareth
- Possible damage to a convent in Nazareth
Locations
- Jerusalem
- al-Khalil [Hebron]
- a mosque that houses the tomb of the Prophet Moses (Nabi Musa)
- Bethlehem (possible)
- al-Ramlah (possible)
- Nazareth (possible)
Notes and Further Reading References
Appendix of Ambraseys and Karcz (1992)
Seismic activity during two decades preceding and following the earthquake of 1546
Many shocks have been reported from the eastern Mediterranean region during the decades that preceded and followed the earthquake of 1546. These were either large distant events or minor local shocks. In order to avoid any chance of misinterpretation, we examined also the seismicity of the Eastern Mediterranean region during a period of about 20 years before and after the 1546 earthquake. In what follows we give a summary of the events so far retrieved:
1525 Mar 9. A slight shock in Egypt (or Cairo) was felt during the night, al-Da’udi: 261; as-Suyuti: 62.
1527 Jul 12. A slight shock occurred in Cairo around dawn, al-Da’udi: 261; as-Suyuti: 63.
1529 Nov 13. A light shock in Cairo, which lasted about half a minute, towards the end of the night about 50 minutes before dawn. A mu’ezzin, who was up a minaret says the shock lasted 2-3 minutes and made the minaret sway in a most frightening way, al-Da’udi: 261; as-Suyuti: 62.
1531 Nov 6. A damaging earthquake in Crete; it is not known how far the shock was felt (Ploumidis, 1974).
1532 Jul 10. A very slight shock reported in Cairo during the night, al-Da’udi: 261, al-suyuti 63. This is perhaps the same shock experienced in Bethlehem (Possot, 1890)
1534 Mar 23. We know that on 23 March l534 a slight earthquake was felt in Cairo after dawn, al-Suyuti:63. The entry in Arvanitakis (1903) for 1534, referring to Dositheos (1715) for the destruction of the belfry of the Sepulchre in Jerusalem, is inaccurate. Dositheos does not give the year for this event and his notice dearly refen to the earthquake of 1546. Awanitakis is followed by Willis (1928). and Siiberg (1932).
1537 Jan 8. A very slight shock was reported in Cairo(?) during the night of 8 January 1537, al-Da’udi: 261. A second account states that it was also felt in Syria, al-Ghuzzi: 261. Al-’Umari places this earthquake vaguely in 944 a.H. (1537-8) and says that the town of Dumyat (Danietta) in Egypt was shaken by shocks that continued for four days, five times a day, al-’Umari: 188.
1537 Mar 9. Later in the year, on 9 March 1537,another slight shock was felt in Damascus. al-Ghuzzi: 261. Al-’Umari places this earthquake in 944 a.A. (sic.) (1537-8) and also mentions that in Antioch the shock caused walls to collapse, al-’Umari 118.
1539 Apr 1. A marginal note in a manuscript found in Laconia in the Peloponesus, refers to great earthquakes that began at the first hour of the day on the l April 1539. Marvrelakis (l939) considers that this note was written in Jerusalem.
1542. A earthquake is reported this year to have affected the kingdom of Cyprus, Lusignano: 211. There are frequent mistakes in Lusignano’s dates so that the year of the event needs authentication.
1544 Jan. An earthquake in Eastern Anatolia devastated the region between Zitun and Malataya, causing damage as far as Aleppo. Ambraseys (1989).
1546 Jan 14. This earthquake and its aftershocks of 13 March and 13 May are described in this paper.
1549 Sep 10. An earthquake in Crete caused the collapse of a number of houses and the damage of buildings in Candia where a number of people were injured (Archivio: c). There is some evidence that this was a relatively large earthquake in the Eastern Mediterranean. that also caused damage to the church of the monastery of Avgasida, west of St Sergios, about 10 km NW of Famagusta in Cyprus (Enlart. 1896). Modern writers wrongly date this event in 1547 (Raulin, 1869; Jeffrey, 1918).
1557 Feb. An earthquake caused the collapse of a gun foundry, the forging house and ovens in Jerusalem (Cohen, 1990).
1563 Sep 13. At dawn, on Monday 13 September 1563, an earthquake destroyed a number of houses and cracked walls in Damascus, Badr al-Din al-Ghuzzi (sub ann.). Alexander von Pappenheim, who was in Jerusalem at that time does not mention the event (Rohricht and Meisner, 1880).
1564 Aug 12. This was a large, probably intermediate depth earthquake which caused extensive damage in Crete (Archivio: d)and was felt over a large area, as far as northern Greece, Lampros (1910), and southern Turkey (?).
1565 Jul 27. Another earthquake was felt in Damascus about dawn, Badr al-Din, al-Ghuzzi.